Spitfires' Rychel and Letowski also drawing NHL interest

Expect a summer of change for the Windsor Spitfires and it might not only be tied to the departure of head coach Rocky Thompson.

Thompson took the head coaching job with the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves on Wednesday, but Spitfires general manager Warren Rychel hinted he’s also heard from the pro ranks about a possible new position.

“There’s a couple things going on I can’t really comment on right now,” Rychel said.

The architect of three Memorial Cup championship teams in the last nine years, it would seem natural for Rychel to draw interest, but he admits it would take a lot to pull him out of his current situation.

“For me to leave here, it’s got to be a pretty special gig in the NHL,” Rychel said. “A lot of coaches leave and have success to the NHL, but management’s a little bit different.

“I live five miles from the rink. I’m part owner of the team. I love dealing with the kids every day. I make my own schedule. I have great scouts. I have great office staff. I love coming here. So, for me to leave has to be pretty special.”
But that doesn’t mean he won’t listen to what opportunities are out there.

“There’s a couple of things going on, but obviously I can’t comment on it, but it’s got to be a perfect situation where the ball’s knocked out of the park,” Rychel said. “In the right spot, there’s a lot of teams in the NHL that need help. You look and a lot of my friends are in the NHL now. For me, I had a great career in the NHL. I deal with the NHL guys every day. I won a Stanley Cup. Yeah, I’d love to win another one, but it’s got to be a perfect situation.”

With Spitfires majority owner Bob Boughner tied to NHL coaching vacancies with the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres, the one think Rychel insisted is that neither has any interest in is selling the club.

“Everyone has speculation,” Rychel said. “That’s not going to happen.”

Boughner echoed those sentiments.

“Are we selling? No,” Boughner said. “I squashed all the rumours.”

While there might be talk, Rychel and Boughner are both focused on filling the club’s head coaching vacancy. While associate coach Trevor Letowski, who is vacationing in Aruba, seems to be the logical choice, Rychel said he’s been fielding pro offers as well.

“Trevor, to be honest with you, has gotten a couple of phone calls from NHL teams the last couple of days,” Rychel said. “That’s up in the air, too. I think Trevor likes the area and I think Trevor’s the logical choice, but you have to look when an NHL team calls you up.”

Rychel said he’s hoping to have a new head coach in place within three weeks.

“We’ll get things done,” Rychel said. “It’ll be a hectic couple of weeks. There’s a lot of stuff to do. I had a good eight days run (celebrating the Memorial Cup win), but it’s time to put the cigar out and get to work here. “

Windsor could lose at least half of its 20-man dress roster to graduation and the Spitfires aren’t sure if defencemen Mikhail Sergachev and Sean Day, who are eligible to return, will be back.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do here,” said Rychel, who figures he needs to add four forwards and maybe one defenceman. “We need to plug in some young talent into our lineup and that’s going to be a big job.”

Rychel expects to add two players later this month in the European Import Draft. At some point, the club must also focus on restocking its depleted draft pick cupboard.

“We’re going to have a good team, but we have look at stockpiling some picks we lost,” Rychel said. “It’ll be a good team, but also a rebuild where a lot of our young guys play.”
The club dealt 22 draft picks in building this year’s club, but Rychel has no regrets with a Memorial Cup title.

“I never give up too many draft picks when you win the trophy,” Rychel said. “I’ll get the picks back one day.

“Picks don’t play hockey games. Players play hockey games. It’s easy to say now that we won. If we’re sitting here, if the other shoe’s off the foot, and we lost it would hurt a little more, but I don’t care if every pick’s gone. I’ll find a way to get them back. I believe in my scouting staff and I believe in the guys to find free agents, but it is thin.”

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